


Timarine Wives

by misura



Category: Promised Land - Connie Willis & Cynthia Felice
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-31 03:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12667107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Delanna frowned, sure she'd misheard. "Married?" Perhaps the word meant something different on Keramos than in the rest of the universe - like 'good manners' and 'customer service'. (AU where Delanna is married to Cadiz instead of Sonny)





	Timarine Wives

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cjmarlowe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cjmarlowe/gifts).



Delanna frowned, sure she'd misheard. "Married?" Perhaps the word meant something different on Keramos than in the rest of the universe - like 'good manners' and 'customer service'.

Maggie sounded competent enough, at least. That was a bit of a relief.

She also looked sympathetic, which Delanna realized might be less of one. "Yes. As I just explained, it was a decision made by your parents in order to safeguard the future of both your families' lanzyes."

"Don't think I like it any better than you do," Cadiz said.

Maggie grimaced. It occurred to Delanna that Cadiz had likely known about this arrangement a lot longer than Delanna had. 

_Mother. You should have told me._ Of course, her mother had not expected to die. Very few of her letters had even hinted at the fact that she was ill. Just a mention here and there of 'feeling better than I've felt in weeks' or 'having made it through a few bad days'.

"There's nothing you can do about it?" Delanna asked Maggie. Cadiz hardly seemed the type to meekly accept being married to a complete stranger. Surely, she'd have been looking for a way out from the moment her parents had told her.

"Of course there are things I can do about it," Maggie said. "Especially now that you're here, too."

It wasn't just Cadiz who'd known, either, Delanna realized. When Sonny'd met her at the shuttleport, when she'd thought he'd gotten her name wrong, he hadn't. He hadn't said, "So you're Cadiz," - he'd been about to say, "So you're Cadiz's wife," only she'd cut him off before he could get out that last bit.

_He could have tried a little harder._ Not that it would have helped her to know a few hours sooner, but at least it would have prepared her a little.

"Oh," Delanna said. Cadiz glared at her. "Good." She told herself it _was_ good, even if it wasn't quite what she'd been expecting coming here.

Then Maggie went on to tell her how long it would likely take to straighten things out and what she expected Delanna to do in the meantime, and Delanna wondered what she had gotten herself into.

 

The answer, clearly, was a comedy holo.

One where she blundered from one situation into the next one, with hardly anyone around who seemed more interested in helping her than in laughing at her. Cadiz seemed to prefer doing both: let Delanna blunder first, then laugh herself sick about it, and only then explain why what she'd just done had been a bad idea from the get-go.

At least Sonny had gotten Cleo back - for reasons he had yet to share with her. Not that Delanna particularly cared. She would have happily put up with hours of Sonny's particular brand of non-conversation if it meant Cleo's safety from Doctor Lyle, who apparently cared even more about rules than the monks at the Abbey had. They, at least, had been willing to look the other way on occasion, or at least had moderated their punishments according to the crime.

They would have known better than to keep referring to Cleo as a 'bug', too, as Cadiz insisted on doing, right before complaining about Cleo having snuggled up in one of her hats again.

Delanna had no idea why Cleo would display any particular preference for Cadiz, unless on some level, she was aware of Delanna's own feelings when it came to Cadiz, which seemed unlikely, given that Delanna was barely able to sort them out herself.

Besides, it was much more appealing to believe there was some divine justice, at least.

 

"You're coming with me - us?" Delanna corrected herself. Sonny had made himself scarce again, possibly to say his goodbyes to Jay.

Possibly not. The two of them seemed even more different than she and Cadiz, although at least they seemed able to get along amiably enough.

Cadiz gave her a look. "Of course. Who else is going to tell you what to do?"

_What makes you think I need or want someone to tell me what to do?_ Delanna wanted to ask, but didn't. Cadiz was right; she had no idea what to do, and based on her experiences with Sonny thus far, he certainly wasn't going to tell her, either - and even if he did, they'd both be lucky if she actually understood what he meant, without someone else around to translate, or explain.

Cadiz might not be nice about it, but at least Delanna trusted her to be clear, and to explain before, rather than after why something was or wasn't a good idea.

_Besides, if Maggie's idea doesn't work, we might as well get used to spending time together._

_Who knows, we might even become friends._ Unlikely, but possible. Cadiz wasn't that different from some of her friends in Gay Paree - she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, and smart and often funny, even when you were the one she was making fun of.

Under other circumstances, Delanna could have even imagined finding Cadiz attractive.

"Right," she said, not really wanting to say "Thank you".

"Delanna, you ready to go?" Sonny asked. He sounded a little winded. Clearly, he had not been saying goodbye to Jay, who had romanced half the population of Keramos, male and female alike, if you could believe the ham.

Of course, if you could believe the ham, Cadiz and Delanna had been in love with one another for years, and all the arguments they had, as well as all the times Cadiz complained about or laughed at Delanna for being a been-to were just preludes to the two of them making up later, in private.

"Cadiz will be coming with us to Milleflores," Delanna said brightly. "Isn't that nice of her?"

It probably was, not that that made her feel any more inclined to be grateful to Cadiz.

She thought Sonny looked just a little bit relieved when he nodded. Clearly he had about as much faith in his ability to communicate to her what needed to be done as Delanna had herself.

 

"I don't like to say this, but I'm actually impressed," Cadiz said.

Delanna had made dinner, trying out one of the recipes she'd heard on the ham. It had sounded simple enough, and she'd had all the ingredients at her disposal. She was pleased with the way it had turned out, although she had hardly expected any praise from Cadiz.

Sonny seemed happy to eat anything, as did Harry and Wilkes. 

"Thank you," Delanna said. "It wasn't a very complicated recipe."

"Oh, I don't mean dinner," Cadiz said. Sonny gave her a look. "I meant you. Helping out. Making yourself useful. Nothing at all like - "

"Cadiz." Sonny was frowning.

Cadiz glared at him defiantly. "Don't you be giving me that look, Sonny Tanner. You know as well as I do - "

" - that Delanna has done more than her fair share of the work that needs doing around here, without complaining," Sonny said, interrupting her again. "And it's nice of you to acknowledge that, Cadiz. I'm sure Delanna knows we all appreciate how hard she works, but it doesn't hurt to say it out loud."

"Thank you," Delanna said, again, feeling a little confused. "I do what I can."

Cadiz nodded once. Sonny filled up his plate again, before also refilling Harry's and Wilkes's.

 

Delanna'd have liked to talk to Cadiz in private, but the next few weeks, she was simply too busy: there was a long list of things that needed doing, and only a limited amount of time in which to do them.

She'd promised herself a few minutes at least, to sit down with her mother's diaries, but she couldn't seem to manage even that much.

Cadiz worked as hard as anyone, in addition to explaining to Delanna what needed doing and why, which made Delanna like her a little better. It reminded her of her classes at the Abbey, even if she was also more aware than ever of how little use most of the things she had learned there were on Keramos.

At least her animal husbandry class had come in handy when dealing with Sonny's geese. Plus, she'd been able to help Jay with his weather program. _So not completely useless, after all._

Her mother had sent her to get an education that would prepare her for a life away from Keramos, away from the hot springs and the fire monkeys and the lanzyes. Away from Cadiz Flaherty, who had certainly not been educated with anything other in mind than a life spent doing all the things her parents had done, and their parents before them.

For the first time, Delanna felt a certain amount of sympathy for Cadiz. Of all the people she might have married, Cadiz had gotten stuck with the worst possible partner, someone who hadn't even been on Keramos since she'd been a child. A been-to.

Delanna knew that this was not the life her mother had wanted her to have.

She was beginning to wonder, though, if perhaps it was the life she wanted herself to have. Not the part where she and Cadiz were married without having had the least say about the matter, maybe, but the rest of it.

 

"You know, in those clothes, you don't look much like a been-to at all," Cadiz said. "You look nice."

_Been-tos can't look nice?_ Delanna was fairly sure she knew the answer to that question already.

"Thanks," she said, rather than start an argument she already knew she wasn't going to win. What did it matter, anyway? It wasn't as if Delanna had chosen to be a been-to any more than she had chosen to get married to Cadiz. _Not that that seems to make her like me any better._

Cadiz shrugged. "I guess I was expecting you to be more - less useful."

_Expecting me to be more what?_ "Glad to have proven you wrong."

Cadiz shrugged again. If Delanna hadn't know better, she might have thought Cadiz was shy, but after having spent the past weeks in her company, Delanna knew that if there was one thing Cadiz wasn't, it was shy. "So is there anyone I should be expecting to show up to come looking for you?"

It took Delanna a few moments to realize that Cadiz was asking about girlfriends. _Or boyfriends._

"No," she said. "No one." She must have sounded a little wistful; Cadiz gave her a look that was almost sympathetic. "I mean, of course there were plenty of people I spent time with, but I can't picture any of them coming all the way to Keramos." _And I can't think of anyone I'd want to._

"Plenty of people," Cadiz repeated. Cadiz had probably spent her life surrounded by the same familiar faces. 

"Friends," Delanna said. "And a few ... more than friends, but nothing serious. How about you?" she asked quickly. "Any rivals I should worry about, other than Jay?"

Cadiz snorted. _Fair enough._ Only an idiot would put 'Jay' and 'serious' in the same sentence. "What rivals? We're married. I don't know how things are out there, but here on Keramos, that means something."

_Is that why Jay has as many friends as he does?_ But that wasn't fair, any more than declaring her and Cadiz to be married simply because their parents had decided on something years ago was.

"Maggie might find a loophole."

"She won't," Cadiz said. She sounded very sure. "Like it or not, we're stuck with each other. That's why - well. I guess what I'm getting at is that I was expecting a lot worse. You're not so bad. I like your hair."

Delanna wished she could return the compliment, dubious and backhanded as it had been. She hadn't been expecting anything when she'd arrived on Keramos, though - at least, nothing regarding Cadiz.

"I like your hats," she said, adding, with a smile, "although not as much as Cleo does."

Cadiz scowled. "I really shouldn't have told Sonny to go and get her from Doc Lyle. It was just - you looked so sad. I felt bad for you. I was an idiot. If I'd known - all right, I'd probably still have done the same," she admitted. "I just feel a bit frustrated sometimes, you know? If we'd met like normal people, we could have gotten to know each other before ... "

_If we'd met like normal people, we wouldn't be having this conversation,_ Delanna thought, feeling a little warm. _If we'd met like normal people, we might actually be friends by now._

_Or more than friends._ That would have really given people something to talk about on the ham.

"Still, no use in thinking about might-haves," Cadiz said. "It is what it is, so I suppose we might as well make the best of it."

"Better late than never?" Delanna asked, a little tartly, but then, Cadiz hadn't been the one getting laughed at for weeks for nothing worse than simply not knowing about salt-water creeks or red sea bushes.

Cadiz grinned. "Exactly."

After a moment, Delanna grinned back.


End file.
